1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reproducing information from an information storage medium which stores a plurality of various items of information, and more particularly to an improved apparatus for scanning and reproducing a plurality of pieces of musical information that are recorded in memory locations divided by address information on an information storage medium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various information storage mediums including a CD (compact disc), an LVD (laser vision disc), DAT (digital audio tape), etc. store a plurality of pieces of information, e.g., a plurality of pieces of musical information, recorded successively as time-series information in memory locations that are divided or specified by address (relative address) information. The user of such an information storage medium may sometimes want to know the contents of a plurality of recorded pieces of information within a short period of time. A CD player, for example, has various additional modes of operation, or added functions, in addition to the essential mode of playing back the recorded pieces of musical information. One of the additional modes of operation is known as an introduction scanning mode. The introduction scanning mode allows the user to confirm what musical pieces are recorded on a CD or to give brief information of recorded musical pieces that the user wishes to listen to, by successively playing back the introductions of musical pieces (tracks) TNo. 1, TNo. 2, each for a predetermined period of time, e.g., 10 seconds, as shown in FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings.
Another known scanning mode is also employed in an information reproducing apparatus such as a CD single player or the like which plays back a single source (information storage medium). In this scanning mode, the information reproducing apparatus successively plays back portions of recorded musical pieces, which are about 1 minute after the introductions of the first, second, third, musical pieces, each over about 10 seconds. The scanning mode permits the user to know the contents of the recorded information, such as the titles of the recorded musical pieces, more quickly than in the introduction scanning mode.
As described above, there have been known conventional information reproducing apparatus with the latter scanning mode that play back a single source or information storage medium. However, any commercially available information reproducing apparatus such as multiple CD players which play back a plurality loaded sources or information storage mediums have no such scanning mode. If the scanning mode were added to an information reproducing apparatus for playing back a plurality of information storage mediums, then the information reproducing apparatus would be required in the scanning mode to browse through all musical pieces successively in a plurality of sources, bybrowsing through the musical pieces in a first source, then through the musical pieces in a second source, and so on. Therefore, it would take a long period of time for the user to find a desired musical piece or pieces in the loaded source.